Los Gusanos: A Novel (Nation Books) [Paperback]

John Sayles (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nation Books | Publication Date: December 20, 2004

Award-winning writer John Sayles's critically acclaimed novel explores fifty years of Cuban-American relations. Set in Miami in 1981, Los Gusanos is the vivid and moving account of one extended family's life in Cuba and the United States. With pathos and understanding, Sayles introduces us to a memorable range of characters—young, old, black, and white—all of whom are struggling to make a new life in their adopted country while haunted by the memories of Cuba. Taking as its title the derogatory term Castro used to describe those who fled to Miami after he came to power, Los Gusanos is beautifully rendered; a deterministic study of who will be the casualty and who the survivor in a time of political upheaval.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Los Gusanos," or "worms," is Fidel Castro's epithet for the Cubans who fled the island after the revolution. The story of these exiles--full of violent passions, tender memories and old vendettas--is what filmmaker/author Sayles ( Union City Dues ) endeavors to capture in this ambitious work. Given the tangled history of Cuba--"a succession of men exploiting men," as the narrator puts it--Sayles gamely constructs a plot to carry the reader through decades of turmoil and recrimination. Marta, a young Cuban nurse in a Miami old folks home, enlists a ragtag team of Cuban men--former terrorists, a priest, members of her family, an orderly with a penchant for guns--to prepare an assault on Cuba. Sayles's attention, however, drifts to whichever figure walks into the story, and he runs up and down the timeline from the '50s to the present with little design, the result being that no character sufficiently emerges from the roiling historical backdrop to engage the reader. Still, the book succeeds brilliantly as a series of closely observed vignettes--from comic flirtation rituals on a Miami beach to a harrowing recollection of the Bay of Pigs invasion to the lost love of a waitress in Havana; and the prose, spiced with Spanish and swaying to a Latin rhythm, works its gentle seductions. Overall, Sayles's impressive command of psychological detail and the narrative's generous spirit more than compensate for the book's structural flaws. Major ad/promo; first serial to Esquire; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In the early 1980s, Marta de la Pena, a beautiful, otherworldly Cuban exile living in Miami, dreams of avenging the death of her brother Ambrosio, who was killed in the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion 20 years earlier. Spurned by the mainstream anti-Castro groups in town, Marta sets out to assemble her own guerrilla strike force from Miami's large population of gun-toting idealists, madmen, and soldiers of fortune. Sayles, a noted film director ( Eight Men Out ) as well as a critically acclaimed novelist ( Union Dues , LJ 9/1/77), brings a cinematic eye to historical fiction. Focusing on the vicissitudes of Marta's extended family in both Havana and Miami, he reviews 50 years of Cuban-American relations. An exciting, instructive, and highly readable novel. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/91.
- Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books; 2nd edition (December 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156025646X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560256465
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,246,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional book by a man with a great heart and conscience, March 15, 2000

By 

Geoff Pietsch (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Los Gusanos: A Novel (Paperback)

I first became aware of John Sayles after seeing his movie "Matewan". I loved the movie; the union organizer, Joe Kenehan, is my all-time favorite movie hero (well, next to my boyhood hero, Shane). I've seen several other Sayles films since then, but Los Gusanos is the first book of his that I've read. It is, indeed, exceptional. It's sad that with all the attention that is given to Cuba and Castro, this book is not more widely read. I lived in Miami for 36 years - and, inevitably, read and heard innumerable opinions about Cuba - but until Los Gusanos I never encountered anyone who portrayed so well the complexity of the human beings involved. One cannot help but be interestd in - even like - many of Sayles's characters, yet none of them is perfect. Most are very imperfect. Some are despicable - both pro-Castro and anti-Castro types, though those terms aren't the best to use to describe these complicated, often torn people. So, I urge anyone with an interest in modern Cuba to read Los Gusanos. It will fascinate, disturb, and move you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story too complicated for its own good-- three-and-a-half stars, August 3, 2005

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Los Gusanos: A Novel (Nation Books) (Paperback)

Sayles has long been one of my favorite movie directors, and I have intended to try one of his novels for many years now.

I have very mixed feelings about Los Gusanos as a book. I do not think that it is a success, although it has some spectacular sections and the quality of the writing is very high. Still, I am not sure that I would recommend this book to anyone who was not either a fan of Sayles as a director or someone interested in literature dealing with the Bay of Pigs.

Like many Sayles films, Los Gusanos is an ensemble piece. Reading the plot synopsis may give you the impression that the book is about Marta and her mission. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much like Joan of Arc (who she idolizes) Marta is nearly perfectly opaque-- her thoughts and motivations unclear. We are granted a look into the deepest thoughts and memories of many of the characters, making nearly everyone else more transparent than she. Even the stroke-disabled inarticulate father has his stream-of-consciousness fits of rage. Marta is cool, unapproachable, and we only really see her thinking when she mixes her voice with that of the diary of her dead brother.

It is an interesting thing that despite the resistance that Sayles clearly has to traditional narrative form, his films succeed the most (Lone Star, Passion Fish, Matewan) when we still have a central character or characters where the audience can fix their focus. One of the main problems with Los Gusanos is that this focus is lost, making the reading experience difficult and even occasionally broken despite the device of the new invasion. I found that I resented getting so close to so many characters who made only brief appearances. Villas is a good example of that-- I wanted so much more of his story than Los Gusanos gave me. A stronger central thread would have made this objection less serious, or even removed it altogether.

I also found the the device of switching between Spanish and English was at least a little bit irritating, particularly in passages where we know that the entire conversation was held in Spanish. It had the unfortunate effect of being the literary equivalent of giving the Spanish film characters a strong Spanish accent when they talk amongst themselves in English.

There are an awful lot of good things in this book, and if you are interested in reading it then please do not let this review dissuade you. Sayles has his usual glittering and objective eye for the politics of the situation-- seeing all sides clearly and seemingly without judgement. Like I said earlier, if you are already a fan of his cinematic work you should find a lot of the best elements back in this novel.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marharwal's Picks, December 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Los Gusanos (Hardcover)

Set in Miami in 1981, but spanning six decades of a family's life in Cuba and the United States, Los Gusanos portrays a range of characters--old and young, black and white, men and women--all struggling to make a life in their adopted country while haunted by the memories of their lost island. Taking as its title the derogatory term Fidel Castro used to describe those Cubans who fled to Maimi after he came to power, Los Gusanos explores the elements that determine who turns one way and who turns the other--who will be the casualty and who the survivor--in a time of political upheaval. (...)